Huntington Bay expands tax exemption

By Tim Healy
tim.healy@newsday.com

The Huntington Bay Board of Trustees last night voted to expand property tax exemptions for senior citizens and arranged for later votes on measures to raise parking fines and toughen regulations against unauthorized construction.

The village board’s approval of the property tax change was unanimous. It allows seniors (age 65 and over) earning less than $27,000 a year to obtain a 50 percent reduction in their property’s assessed valuation. The existing village code offers exemptions to seniors earning less than $7,500. The measure, which also cuts the residency requirement for the exemption to one year, down from five, brings the village regulation closer to that of the Town of Huntington.

“I’m not sure there’s going to be a whole lot of people taking advantage of this thing,” Mayor Herbert Morrow said last night before the vote, “but even if it’s only one or two, it’s still the fair thing to do.”

In a last minute amendment to the measure, the board last night moved the deadline for filing for the extension back a month, to March 1. No members of the public commented on or questioned the measure at last night’s hearing.

The board discussed setting up a public hearing on a proposal to toughen regulations against unauthorized construction. The measure would triple the fees for permits to “legalize” construction that has already been completed, and it would prevent anyone from starting new work on a residence without finishing the paperwork necessary for existing construction. A grace period would be set up before the law took effect to allow residents the time to apply for necessary permits.

“To hit the residents with this without a bit of a buffer would not be well received,” Morrow said last night.

The board also discussed raising the fines for parking on village streets to $55 from the current $35. The board discussed studying the need to improve the quality and number of signs at entrances to the village notifying drivers that parking on village streets is prohibited unless a large event is scheduled and registered with village police.